Hatchling
by Fliptailser
Summary: I'm a unique, immortal sky serpent. There's only one of me. So what do I do when I find a green egg sitting close by, one with my own patterns on it? I don't know how it got there, but there it is. Is it really my egg? What do I do when I find out that my life is drawing to a close, and that the egg is my replacement? I... I refuse to accept it, of course.
1. Egg

**EGG**

There was no way I could have laid an egg. It's just not possible.

I quickly retraced my steps, so to speak, but there were hardly any steps to begin with. First I had woken up—which was odd enough already, since I never slept, ever—and then I had started to uncoil lazily. As I loosened up, I noticed my body was coiled around an egg! The egg's shell was dark green, with yellow lines that glowed faintly. They looked considerably like the lines running down _me_, but I refused to believe it was my egg. I don't lay eggs.

I was immortal. I didn't make offspring at all.

I was tempted to destroy the egg, but I _had _been in a rather protective position before waking up. Some mystical process might've been underway, one that I didn't understand or even know of. Even so, I couldn't just sit and watch over it—it's not even my egg! No, the skies were calling me—the wonderful, sparse air of the upper atmosphere was waiting! I was caretaker of the air and weather, not of some spontaneous egg. If it was my responsibility to guard the egg, someone should've told me. Or I should've known already.

The egg's owner, whoever it was, decided to leave it at the Sky Pillar of all places. I couldn't fathom how they managed to slip in the egg while I was sleeping. No one comes to the tower—the last visitor was a human, years ago, and all I had to do was roar a few times to scare them off. What a lunatic you'd have to be, to come and leave your egg with a sleeping sky dragon. And then expect the dragon to take care of it! I heard birds can occasionally end up taking care of other species' eggs, but not me. I was no bird, and nurturing wasn't exactly my specialty. To the contrary… I would've just gulped down the egg and solved all my problems _that_ way! When your food is the sun and air, though, a digestive system is pointless—I had no stomach. I wasn't sure where the egg would even go, exactly, if I swallowed it. Probably back up. And then I'd be a mess.

So with a low yawn I stretched one last time and flew off, still tired, making sure not to brush the egg with my tail.


	2. Kyogre

**KYOGRE**

I didn't fly far, and I didn't bother to gain altitude. I just wanted to talk to someone about the egg. So I went down to the ocean, keeping an eye out for human boats and planes. They were always around. I even occasionally saw their devices up in the ozone layer and beyond. It was infuriating to think that they were so easily invading my territory and even flying higher than me, but there was nothing I could do about humans. In fact, I avoided them at all costs. There were way too many of them! Sometimes I wondered if anyone could stay secret from them for much longer.

The sea was right below me, and the air tasted quite salty. After seeing no one was around to watch, I summoned enough energy to keep an air lock of sorts around my body—I usually used it to neutralize any crappy weather around me, but it was good for other uses, too. When I dived into the sea, for instance, the air lock kept me surrounded by a bubble of air. It was certainly nifty, but it also took a good amount of energy to maintain at high pressures. Definitely worth the effort, of course—swimming was flying, but in an awkward, tiresome form. It was altogether very embarrassing for me to swim. Not to mention I can't breathe water.

Anyway, it was easy to reach Kyogre, because I always knew where she was. She swims around the bottom of the ocean, much like how I fly around the top of the sky. All I had to do was fly around the seafloor, scanning the utter darkness for the glow of her signature red lines. When she drew near, my own yellow lines fluoresced in response.

And there she was, just swimming along in the dark. If she was surprised to see me, she didn't show it—she didn't show anything, really. It was a bit difficult to tell how she was feeling. I remember seeing rage in her only once, and that was a very long time ago.

She thought I had come to tell her off. "We are not in contention," she said calmly, her eyes bright in the dark. We could only see each other because of our luminescent markings.

"I know, I know," I replied. As I spoke, I felt water spray onto my back—my air lock was starting to fail. "I just wanna talk for a bit. At the surface!" Then I shot up as fast as I could, before I had to swim and hold my breath. I think I hit a fish on the way up, but I couldn't tell for sure.

Moments later, Kyogre peered up at me from the sea. Her presence at the surface was creating a local thunderstorm over the water. "Is something the matter, Rayquaza?" she asked in her politest voice. "You do not look well."

"Really? I don't feel well either," I said, rain pouring down on me. "I just woke up a while ago—and you know I never sleep—and there was this egg with me! I was coiled up around it, as if it was _my _egg!"

"That is why you came to me?" Kyogre paused. The ocean washed over her for a few moments before she said, "What you describe _is _your egg."

"Come on, Kyogre," I told her over the rain and wind. "Now's not the time for jokes or pranks. Be serious—we don't have babies. We just _are._ No births, no eggs, just continuous… existence. Immortality."

Kyogre blinked. "Surely someone has told you?"

"Told me what? That once every thousand years I have to take care of someone's random egg? Is this some sort of legend I missed the memo for?"

"We must have never discussed this." She glanced away. "Rayquaza, I am not sure if you will like what I am going to say."

I stared down at her. "Just tell me, Kyogre."

"Fine, if you insist… you are dying, Rayquaza."

I glanced around, looking for some sort of audience Kyogre was trying to entertain. Because she certainly wasn't entertaining me. "I'm immort—"

"You are not immortal, Rayquaza. I am also not immortal. Groudon, thank the sea, is not immortal either. We all die, after hundreds of years. But we are reborn, as a renewal of both body and psyche. That egg is your next self. The new Rayquaza."

I glared at her. "So I _will _have to take care of a baby? I have to… raise a son?"

"No…" Kyogre said slowly. "The egg does not hatch until you decease. And you _are_ dying."

"I am _not_ dying!" I insisted, breathing heavily.

"Do you not feel tired? Exhausted, even? You said you slumbered, after all. As you know, none of us do that."

"Yes you do! After you fought with Groudon, you passed out for a _long _time!"

"You are becoming increasingly weak," she continued, ignoring me. "Your time has come. In addition to your declining vitality, have you noticed that you are not your usual self? You are certainly much more talkative, and you also seem quite… lenitive. Less intimidating, less imperious."

"What about it?" I said to her. "I know I'm supposed to be sort of tough, but… I feel like I'm different. Like I woke up different."

"Yes, your personality seems to have changed," Kyogre said. "You are taking on the character of your successor."

She was right—I knew I typically acted much, much meaner. "So then, I'm not myself right now?" I asked, tilting my head. "Why would I start acting like my offspring?"

Kyogre sighed, spouting foamy bubbles into the air. "The being in the egg is not your offspring, Rayquaza. It is the next you, if you can comprehend that."

"So I _am _gonna become a different person…" I said.

"Yes… and no." Kyogre looked up at me ruefully, as if saying she couldn't explain any further. "Consider this… your mind has changed already. At this moment, I consider you a different person." She drew closer. "I… appreciate your being friendly. I really like it when you are nice like this."

I didn't know how to respond to her affection, if that's what she was expressing. "Um, I think… I guess this is our last meeting?" I said to her. "I won't be seeing you again, if you're right about all this."

"Why be sentimental now?" asked Kyogre, picking up on my regret. "You never were before."

"Well, you're the one saying I'm a different person. So now I regret being so tough on you! And now it's too late for me to do anything… if I go now, I might not ever see you again."

"You _will_ see me again! I will still be around when your egg hatches—"

"But that won't be me!" I cried. "That'll be—that'll be someone else! I don't want to die, Kyogre!"

"Must I reiterate that you will live on—"

"Being reborn means _nothing _to me if I lose my memory and my personality too!" I yelled. "It makes no difference!"

"Well, Rayquaza, you cannot stop it now," Kyogre said quietly. "Please do not be angry. If you like, I can try and call out to you after you hatch. Then we can talk again—"

"Stop it!" I hissed. "You know what? I'm not going to let myself die!" I rose up in the air, defiant. "I'll find a way to subvert your little prophecy!"

Kyogre began to sink into the water, intimidated by my outrage. "Goodbye, Rayquaza. I hope to see you at a calmer time, even if you are just a tiny little hatchling." She closed her eyes. "A hatchling, unwise yet fully innocent… it will be your chance to start over." And then she was gone. The weather instantly began to clear up.

"No…" I was left staring at the sea. "I can't die! I can't!" Enraged, I launched myself back into the sky at full speed—**BOOM**—breaking the sound barrier in seconds. I didn't care if any humans saw me. When I made it back to the Sky Pillar, I headed straight for my usual resting place, with no intention to rest. I had something else on my mind.

There the egg was, sitting there, waiting to be nurtured. At the very least, it was waiting for me to die so that it could hatch. I didn't have to die for that stupid egg! Everything Kyogre said couldn't be true! She and Groudon never died, so why should I?

I approached the egg, growling with contempt. I obviously didn't care for it anymore. No, I thoroughly hated it. I despised it, because the egg represented my weakness and eventual death. To think I had actually been coiled around it, taking care of it as I slept. I couldn't stand the thought!

I threw my head back and let out a feral roar—**GRAAAAOOOOOHHH!** I lost my temper, submitting completely to my own arrogance and desperation—I was too powerful and legendary to die! I was in control! There would be no next Rayquaza, because I was the one and only! **THE ONE AND ONLY!**

With one furious swipe of my tail, I struck the dark green egg. It felt like a _rock_. And instead of smashing open, it launched high into the air. I watched with cruel satisfaction as it sailed away and disappeared into the ocean.


	3. Groudon

**GROUDON**

I looked out over the ocean for a few minutes, panting. Why was I still tired? One tail swipe couldn't wear me out like that! I flew for _years_, nonstop, without feeling exhausted. The sun always kept me in perfect condition.

My tail was a bit sore for some reason, but I figured some sky would make me feel better. I launched into the air and made my way straight up, at barely even half the speed of sound. By the time I passed the clouds, the air was thin enough for me to breathe easily. I kept going up, far up, until the wind was gone and everything was quiet. I basked in the pure, unfiltered sunlight for a while, letting it energize me. I even opened my mouth and roared, captivated by how muted my voice sounded. Up there, not even I could pierce the silence.

After several minutes, I looked up at the sun expectantly. For some reason, it wasn't rejuvenating me like it was supposed to. I still felt weary, as if my body was slowing down. But I wasn't dying. I told myself that a few times. I wasn't dying.

I went even higher, pushing toward the sun. I was sure that the closer I got to it, the better I'd feel. But the sun never got any closer, no matter how hard I flew. Minutes went by in silence as I pushed forward, determined to reach it somehow. How far away could it be? I kept going, staring at the sun, ignoring my fatigue—until I realized I couldn't breathe at all. I began to choke—the air was gone. The sky had finally ended.

I was in a vacuum.

I writhed in panic, struggling to get back down to where I could breathe. But my momentum was carrying me farther and farther into the void between the sun and sky. As I struggled to orient myself, I began to curse my own stupidity—not only was I suffocating, but my whole body was also heating rapidly. The sun was killing me, instead of keeping me strong.

Everything was going wrong today! First a stupid egg, and now the sun was melting me alive! I let out a roar of frustration, but with no air it was glorified gaping. I wondered exactly how much was all my fault—everything, probably.

My vision started to fade and blur. I wondered briefly what it would be like to fly right into the sun—no, I wasn't going to die. I couldn't! I summoned all the strength I could and fired a powerful beam right at the heavenly body—it was a meaningless attack, but the recoil sent me hurtling back toward safety. I was in too much pain to fly, so I let myself freefall. In any other set of circumstances, the situation would've been exhilarating.

I felt a little relieved to be headed away from certain annihilation, but the hyper beam was the last straw, so to speak. I was suffocating and burning at the same, and too exhausted to do anything about it. My mind had had enough of it all, and it started to give up consciousness in favor of a protective, vegetative state—it was just trying to keep me alive, I guess. As I slipped away, my last thoughts were about whether or not the egg survived my attack. I hoped it didn't, but I couldn't help but wonder if I had just killed both my successor and myself.

And I never said bye to Kyogre.

"RAYQUAZA!" someone boomed. His voice was titanic, and it made the ground rumble a little. "COME ON! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

Very slowly, I opened my eyes and saw enormous red feet with sharp, metallic claws. I was somewhere underground. The chamber was dank, but comfortingly warm.

"G… g…" I tried to say. My body didn't feel alive anymore... it felt faint, cold, and extremely heavy. Needless to say I couldn't move at all, let alone lift myself off the cave floor.

"Gr…" I uttered again.

"YEAH RAYQUAZA, IT'S ME! GROUDON!" he roared again. "JEEZ, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" I felt two clawed hands grab me behind the head—Groudon lifted me up with ease, until we were at eye level. The end of my body dragged on the floor. "CAN'T YOU MOVE?" Groudon bellowed, shaking me gently. It was _probably_ gentle, at least, by his standards.

"N-no…" said I, after a moment's effort. I didn't appreciate Groudon treating me like a plaything. "P… put…"

Groudon frowned. "DID YOU TRY GETTING SOME SUNLIGHT?"

"Q-quiet…"

"SINCE YOU DON'T EAT THINGS, YOU GET ALL YOUR ENERGY FROM THE SUN, ALONG WITH THE PARTICLES IN THE UPPER... ATMOSPHERE. YEAH, ATMOSPHERE." He lifted me up higher, as if for emphasis.

"Shut up!" I cried, finally mustering the energy to say something. "And… p-put me down!"

Groudon immediately lowered me again. He tried his best to get me in a coiled position, but he wasn't very dexterous—a loose pile was the best he could manage. He crouched down and whispered, "Is this better?" His whispers were as loud as my regular voice.

I appreciated that he could still respect me when I was weak and paralyzed. And at least he hadn't made a knot out of me. "Thank you," I said to him.

He sat down in front of me, making the ground tremble. "I sensed you were in trouble. We can feel each other, you know? I knew you were hurt. You were lucky, Rayquaza, 'cause you fell in the desert. It was easy for me to come and rescue you."

"Thank you… for doing that," I said. I never expected Groudon to do something like that for me.

"Am I being too quiet? Can you hear me?" Groudon shook his head. "Anyway, I'm afraid you might be, I don't know, losing your ability to get energy from the sun. Or you lost it already."

"I was… thinking that…" I mumbled. "Kyogre… she said I was… dying."

"That might be true, you know. How long have you lived?"

"I don't know… I always thought I was immortal. I don't remember being born, or even young."  
"Whoa, Rayquaza. We aren't immortal, you know. We die, but then we come back. I'm guessing Kyogre finally told you all about that?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, well, don't let her get you down. She's always wanted to talk to you, but she was so afraid because you were a tyrant, no offense. But still, I think you did a great job, partly because of your meanness. I mean, you stopped our fighting quickly, and that could've ended in some sort of cataclysm! And because of _your _jerkiness, I'm not such a jerk anymore to Kyogre. No offense. Yeah, Kyogre and I—we don't exactly hang out, obviously, but we don't fight over the weather either.

"Nope, no fighting, but I still have an advantage. I've been keeping tabs on the humans, you know, and global warming seems to be a real thing, so I'm stoked. I hope the humans continue doing whatever they're doing. If Kyogre has a problem with it, she'll have to bring it up with the humans, not me."

I stared. "Global warming… you know that raises the sea level, right?"

Groudon rolled his eyes. "Don't screw with me, Rayquaza! The warmer, the better."

"The ice—"

"Anyway, Rayquaza, I think we have to just face it… your time has come. What're you waiting for, right? Your body is all useless now. It's all shut down."

I sighed. Groudon was right. _Kyogre_ was right. I was wrong. It was all over. I kept going over my recent actions in my head, and they were all so idiotic and unforgivable. I had been self-destructive and delusional, and I had taken some serious damage before I snapped out of it.

At least Groudon saved me at the last moment—and he would be the only one to see me in such a humiliating position. I wasn't the powerful Rayquaza anymore, just a big, paralyzed snake. Maybe dying wasn't such a bad idea... especially if Kyogre was right and I'd come back as a hatchling. But the uncertainty of it all was terrifying! Who knew for sure what death would be like? Not even Kyogre did, and she knew just about everything.

Groudon suddenly crouched down as close as he could. "I see that look in your eyes, Rayquaza," he said, determined. "I'm not gonna… I'm not gonna kill you. But I can tell it's coming. Yeah... you're fading, that's for sure. Well, after you come back, you can come to me, and I'll bring you back up to speed. Y'know, we should've talked more before—I never get to talk to anybody, being humongous and underground and all." Groudon sighed, making the ground vibrate. "I don't like being this big… it sounds really weird, but I'd love to die and hatch again sometime soon. Right after I hatch, I'd actually be small enough to sit under a tree! Can you imagine that? I could… walk around on the surface and not just destroy things. Maybe I'd even be too small to make droughts. Huh… I really wonder what I'd look like, so small like that. Or what Kyogre would look like. Probably insanely cute! You'll be like that, too, so don't be too sad! Before you know it, you'll be back and in the sky and all that. Whatever you do up there. Plus, you'll be irresistibly cute for a limited time. Egg-sized!"

He was just trying to cheer me up, that much was clear. I appreciated it—cute wasn't a factor for me, but maybe it would be _fun_, being little like he said. The _world_ would be massive instead of me, and all that.

I hoped—no, I prayed that the egg was okay. If the egg survived, then so would I. That was it. The only thing I could do was wait for the outcome.

I was starting to... have difficulty concentrating, so I just focused on Groudon instead of worrying about my immediate future. He was still talking about eggs: "Your egg had your patterns on it, right? I wonder if my egg looks cool. I hope it's… egg-straordinary." He blinked. "Oh… I got sidetracked, Rayquaza. You know why? I never get to talk. I'm dying to tell things to someone. Like how the three of us came to be how we are… you wanna hear about that?"

I was beginning to space out, and I couldn't even keep my eyes focused that much—I just stared at him blankly as he waited for my response. I wasn't scared anymore… I just felt like stone. I was ready to go, I guess.

"F… fire away," I managed to groan. I wanted to thank him too, for being there for me, but my mouth refused to move again. I was too spent to even think, so… I used my last vestiges of energy… just listening to… Groudon talk.

"Okay, so you know how we were fighting a while back, right? What, forty years ago? Fifty? That was because those humans were screwing around with our orbs, right? Well! Thousands of years ago, we were fighting for real. Eventually we got so tired of it that we both just petrified ourselves and slept for a long time. A looooong time! So, you might be wondering… how did we start fighting if you were always there to keep us in check? See… we started fighting because you died. You _weren't _there to stop us. So we fought. And we wore ourselves out. By the time you were reborn and mature enough to control us, we were asleep already. So you, like, lived and died several times without talking to either of us. Then you—the _current _you—got born and grew up, and when you were an adult you had to stop us from screwing up the world again. I guess my point is, we never got to talk to you, because the first time we met we were… pretty mad. I mean, we were _all_ mad. The orbs and everything. Although you did a pretty good job getting us to back off. I guess it's part of your instinct, to take the authoritative role.

"We must be linked, the three of us. Always dying and coming back, relying on each other to keep… knowledgeable about things. I mean, you didn't have us, and look what happened—you thought you were immortal! No, no one's immortal, except maybe those guys in Sinnoh. If they really exist, I guess they could be immortal. I don't see how masters of space and time could be mortal. Then again… I don't see how living things could be in charge of things like that in the first place.

"Speaking of legends, I came up with a pretty good one about you, Rayquaza. I wanted to tell Kyogre about it, but it's still kind of awkward for me to talk to her. I mean, she's in the sea, which is _the _worst place for me to go. And she's so formal… anyway, this is how the legend goes.

"A long time ago, millions of years ago, Rayquaza was a mighty dragon, with great big wings, right. He had four sturdy legs to hold up his massive body, and two powerful arms to attack and, well, hold things. He roamed the skies and took pleasure in killing and devouring any creature that dared challenge him. Sounds good so far, right? Well, Rayquaza changed forever when a gigantic storm formed. The biggest lightning strike in the world hit Rayquaza, and it caused him to evolve! It was a messed-up kind of evolution, though. Rayquaza lost all of his legs, and took on a serpentine body. His body lengthened, but his arms shrank. His wings went away completely, but he retained the ability to fly. His stomach disappeared, so he couldn't eat anything, but he became able to survive on sunlight alone. After his evolution, Rayquaza became a loner, flying high up in the sky because that was where he remained strong. To make sure he never got hit by lightning again, he learned how to neutralize the weather around him. I, uh… I haven't figured out how he gets tied in with Kyogre and Groudon yet, but I think it's a pretty good legend. Not real at all, by the way. Better than what the humans can come up with, probably. Isn't it?

"Hey, Rayquaza? Can you… can you hear me? Did I put you to sleep? Need a wake-up slap? Don't tell me you just… oh no! I'm not DONE, Rayquaza, don't die! Please, MOVE! BLINK, OR SOMETHING! WAKE UP! COME ON, WAKE UP!

"Sorry, but jeez… your eyes, staring out like that… it's unnatural. What am I gonna do with your body? You need to wake up now, because this is really awkward. You understand me, Rayquaza? If you don't wake up, Kyogre and I might start fighting again! I mean, without you, we won't even need humans to start a climate disaster! You wouldn't want that! SO WAKE UP!

"Okay, stop trying to fool yourself, Groudon… it's been hours. He's really gone now. Hopefully his next self is nice. I hope I get to see him before he grows too large, 'cause a mini-Rayquaza sounds awesome. And maybe we'll get to talk more... he won't think of Kyogre and me as adversaries, hopefully. Yeah, we've calmed down. Although… global warming… hmm.

"Well, Rayquaza, I better… I better put your body somewhere else. I can't stand looking at you like this. Your lines... they're completely dark. Erm… should I, uh, bury you? Cremate you? Both are pretty easy to do, down here. No... I think I'll… I'll send you back home, to that pillar of yours. You'd probably want that. I'll figure out how to do it.

"It's a real good thing you can't cry, Groudon, or else you'd be really embarrassing yourself right now. Come on. He'll be back before he knows it. Maybe he's busting through the egg right now."


	4. Rayquaza

**RAYQUAZA**

I'm finally too big for my egg! I just know that the time is right to break out! To hatch!

I can barely move at all, because I'm coiled up so tightly inside. Yep, I'm definitely too large to stay inside any longer. I really want to be free, and I really want to see what the world is like, so I turn my head and embed my two fangs into the egg's shell.

Crack! The egg immediately weakens, as if waiting for my little teeth the whole time! I bet that's the only thing my fangs're good for, too.  
I saw back and forth in minute movements, widening the crack, until… the egg snaps apart! Ridiculously cold liquid engulfs me at once—I cry out in surprise, and I get a mouthful of salty water. It tastes horrible, and it burns.

I can't see very well—my eyes are stinging from the seawater—but I do know which direction is up. I throw my head in that direction, and I can feel it poking up out of the water. Good thing, too, because I would be freaking embarrassed to drown within seconds of hatching.

I spit out a ton of water, and then I take my first breath of fresh air. It tastes good, but it's sort of too heavy for me. Good air's somewhere else. Somewhere up.

Well, where am I, anyway? The ocean? I glance around, but there's just a ton of water in every direction.

Wait a minute. _Who _am I?

I stop in the water, to think about it real hard for a moment. I'm Rayquaza… that's for sure. What am I supposed to do? Protect… guard something? I'm fairly sure _something_ belongs to me, but what?

Well, the world in general definitely seems familiar. I knew what the ocean was, and I knew I was inside an egg from the very beginning. I didn't expect myself to know anything at all, since I _just _hatched. Is it just instinct? What gives?

I have weird pieces of information that I clearly never learned, because I hatched just moments ago! Like the Sky Pillar—it's a place where I can descend from the sky and rest. How in the world do I know that?Who are Kyogre and Groudon, and why are they natural rivals? If they fight, how can I even stop them? With sheer cuteness? I'm barely larger than an egg...

I clear my thoughts—I suddenly feel compelled to move in a certain way, as if my body already knows the motions well. Obeying my instincts, I lift up from the sea, flying in the air for the first time. It's completely natural, and effortless. I can't even explain how I do it, that's how easy it is! Trembling with excitement, I know from that very instant that flying is what I'm meant to do. It's my calling.

So the first thing I do, of course, is fly as high as I can. The air rushes by, and water clings to me as I shoot through a cloud, but I don't mind. Within moments, I'm at an altitude where the air's much thinner—to my utter delight! I could stay up there forever, tasting the wonderful thin air.

The best thing, though, better than the air, has to be the sun—the sun's light on me is the _best_ _feeling in the world_. The sun is my energy source, and what a source it is! After basking in its warmth for a few minutes, I feel like I can fly around the world in seconds! I can take on anything! I'm **BURSTING** with energy! I let out a roar of exhilaration, and I don't even mind that it sounds small and high-pitched.

Ecstatic, I dive straight down. I know where the Sky Pillar is, somehow, so I head there. As soon as I plummet past it, I know the stone tower is mine—almost as if I've laid eyes on it before. It looks very, very old, like it's been my home for thousands of years. But it hasn't even been my home for a second!

I make my way back up to the highest level on the tower, but then I quickly dart behind a boulder. I anxiously grip it with my little claws—there's a giant green thing sleeping in the center of the floor! Did something take over my Sky Pillar already? I fear the worst, but I only saw a glimpse of the green thing, so I have to look again. I hold my breath, poke my head out, and see something really strange—the green thing is a giant version of me!

It's at least twenty times longer than me, easily. It could've eaten my egg whole, that's how small I am compared to it. But it isn't moving, so I let myself approach. Well… it's not so scary up close. He actually looks peaceful. Is he my father? Did he protect me? Most of all, why is he dead?

I stare into the large-me's blank eye before I realize something dreadful. He must've been protecting me from the monster… the monster that attacked me when I was still inside my egg. All I could hear was the monster's vicious roar before it knocked my egg into the ocean. My father must've been fighting it!

I feel sorry for my father. He probably thought he was a failure, because he couldn't save me from the monster's attack. But here I am! And here he is… I guess the monster did him in.

I try my best to cuddle up against him, to make him feel better as a father, but it doesn't work out too well because of the massive size difference. The best I can do is lie on his head and sort of coil up there. I sigh after a while—I can't fool myself all that well. I know he's dead, and this isn't helping him very much. It's only helping me a little.

For the rest of the day, I decide to fly up in the highest reaches of the atmosphere—it's so pleasant that when someone began to call to me gently, telling me to go to the sea, I ignored her. She could've been the monster, for all I knew.

I don't let anything take me away from the sky that afternoon. The only reason I ultimately come down at all is because of my lifeless father—I like to imagine he's waiting for me. As I descend into the clouds, I wonder for a second what it would be like for him to be alive. For him to raise me. I get the impression, though, that that's not how it's supposed to happen. I guess I might've been intended to grow up alone after all.

At the end of the day I descend again to my special tower, and I notice that everything is a bit smaller, including my father. I grow incredibly fast up there! If I could reach even half my father's size, I'd be really happy!

Now I have to choose between flying in the sky all night long… or sleeping on cool, safe stone. Flying isn't nearly as fun when the sun is gone... so I figure I can try sleep. I don't know what sleep is like, which is odd since I seem to have an impression of everything else.

I feel my father deserves to be with me every night, after all the trouble he went through with my egg. He's coiled up in a neat circle, so I get comfy in the center, resting my head against his side. He's cold… but I love him, and he loved me. I'll treasure him forever, even if his corpse starts to stink and I have to put him in the sea.

Whew, so much to look forward to! Growing to a humongous size, flying up in the sky, maybe even confronting the monster… I can't wait, but I have to calm myself so I can sleep. Before I doze off, I smile to myself, imagining the look on my father's face when he discovered my egg. He must've been real surprised.


End file.
